Welcome to Chaloner’s 101 series! Soon-to-be/new grads can read these articles and gain insights into some of their workplace options in the world of communications from industry veterans.

For our first article, we’re taking a look at agency life. We recently interviewed Adrienne Petz, Partner at Trident GMG. Trident is a strategic and risk advisory firm that specializes in strategic and policy communications, stakeholder solutions, reputation management, public affairs, and crisis preparation and response. We’ve helped Trident find talent in the past, including Adrienne. 

Adrienne’s Career Journey

Adrienne started her career interning on Capitol Hill. She wound up with the communications person, and that’s how she got started. She was hired to continue working for the committee on science and technology when she graduated from American University. After a few years and a promotion to Deputy Communications Director, she moved to Edelman. When she joined, Edelman wasn’t the big name it is now. They didn’t have a crisis communications team. Originally, she was supposed to work on technology policy, but they lost a client, and she ended up moving to the national affairs group instead. Their client was Microsoft who was going through a lawsuit that Adrienne worked on. That was the start of litigation communications for Edelman and for Adrienne. 

When she got to Edelman, there was one person who said they did crisis communications. There was no formal practice, no guard rails on it. They learned on the job and made it up as they went. During her years at Edelman, she did different things, but she always came back to crisis communications. She thought their crisis communications would be really good if they could formalize their process and eventually they did. 

Reflecting on her career, Adrienne said, “So much of it is happenstance and circumstance. You couldn’t plan the way your career goes. You have to take a shot. You have to try things. You have to say if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. You have to try, and if you never try, you’ll always fail.” Whether you’re great at something or not, you’re going to learn from the experience.

Why Work at an Agency?

“You really get to learn from the ground up,” Adrienne said. “You get a front row seat with top clients. You’re watching things happen and learning how they are happening.” 

An agency environment gives you the insight that it’s a business. You learn how the business makes money and how you’re a part of that. Communications at an agency is straightforwardly revenue generation. It really gives you the ability to learn how to do business and how business happens. 

Another benefit of agency is that you have variety in your work. Even if you’re in a specific group, you’re going to be working with a range of clients. For example, someone working in the technology practice at a firm could be working with clients in fintech, healthtech, edtech, etc. You have so many options for where you can go. “You may do the same thing twice, but you’re doing something different every day,” Adrienne said. At a small agency, you’ll likely have even more variety in your clients than at a larger agency. 

Agency really gives you the opportunity to look at your options and figure out your path and where you want to go.

What Makes a Great Junior Staffer? 

Adrienne looks for people who are curious, who want to learn, who don’t think they know everything. Someone who is eager, willing, and willing to put in the hard work will succeed in an agency environment. When you’re a junior staffer, some of your work can feel repetitive, and it can be a little boring sometimes. A good boss will keep you interested enough to grow and move on. But you need to be the type of person who will ask a lot of questions. Ask why. That’s how you’ll learn where your interest and curiosity lie. Being adaptable and open to change are also important. 

In crisis communications, a personal connection with the people you’re working closest with is vital. As Adrienne put it, “Crisis is something where you have to see someone on their worst day.”

Conversely, Adrienne’s biggest red flags with candidates include things like thinking you know everything and not being a team player. “If you think you know everything and that you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re not going to learn,” Adrienne said. No matter your level, but especially as a junior staffer, you need to be open to taking direction and learning and growing as a team. Lone wolves have a limited lifespan at an agency. “You can get along for a certain amount of time and then you can’t get any further.” 

Advice for New Agency Staff

The major thing? “Fail a lot,” Adrienne said. “Be ok with it.” She was scared to fail, but some of her biggest fails have been her best learning experiences, the best catapults to something different. Of course, the goal isn’t to fail, but it’s ok if, and when, it happens. If you’re not failing, you’re not taking a risk. “If I had to go back and tell myself something at 22, it would be that.”

The other thing Adrienne wishes she knew going in? “Don’t take it so personally,” Adrienne said. “Agencies are businesses.” A lot of people go into communications wanting to impact change. It’s important to remember that, at the end of the day, an agency is a business with a goal of making money. You can’t take it personally, and you need to figure out where you fit in the business and learn what you can from it. 

The Value of the Agency Experience 

While it might not be the shiniest, learning what it means to work for a business and have your work necessarily tied to revenue is a valuable lesson. Regardless of the size of the agency, it’s still going to be all about business. You have to contribute to a business model and the sooner you recognize that the better for you and your career. 

One of the best things about agency life is that you’re going to be surrounded by people who are passionate about communications. Another is the variety of the work. “It really does hone your craft,” which makes it a great place for people who are just out of school. When you work in-house, you’ll have things you don’t get to do. “It gives you this immersion into what PR is,” Adrienne said. Being so immersed in PR and communications and surrounded by people who care so much about what you care about gives you a lot of opportunities to learn and grow. And an agency can be a launch point to a lot of different careers in communications. “You’re building your toolbox. You need to build and put all the tools in your toolbox first.”

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Houde is a Project Manager at Chaloner. After graduating from Guilford College where they majored in English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and minored in communications, Elizabeth started their career in New York City in publishing as an editorial coordinator.